DA Revelations Episode 2: Ghost
by AngelExposed
Summary: Remy is stuck in a ghost-like form in the mansion while his body lays unconscious in the Hospital wing. No one seems to be able to sense or hear him. Finished. R&R please .
1. Must Have Been Dreaming

((Authors Note: Okay, I realise it has been absolutely YEARS since I updated this story – it has honestly taken a very long time for me to find any kind of motivation to continue. Over the past few months I received a lot of emails from readers who were curious if I was going to continue the story. I realise some things may be slightly wrong or inaccurate matching up to the previous episodes because of such a long break between writing – I apologise for this. Anyway. On with the story. I hope people will be glad to see it back again)).

DISMAL ANGEL: REVELATIONS

EPISODE 2 - Ghost

Chapter 1 – Must Have Been Dreaming

Monet St. Croix wiped the sleep from her bleary eyes and looked around the dark bedroom room confusedly, she she frowned. Something had aroused her sleep, like the shift of air from an open window or the rustling of heavy velvet drapes. Only, looking around the room seemed to prove her feeling to be in complete imagination. The windows were closed, there were no drapes, just black slatted blinds which were open enough that moonlight and the pale light from the garden lanterns spilled into the room.

She swept her long satiny black hair away from her face and sighed. The first words that had come in a tired sigh from her lips had been "Mr. LeBeau?"

Perhaps she'd just been dreaming, although honestly she couldn't remember if she had. Perhaps she'd dreamed of Remy LeBeau, it was only natural – it was his room she'd decided to commandeer while he was absent from the School. The increase of students in the mansion meant sharing a room with two other girls, both who were loud and particularly annoying as instead of sleeping at reasonable hours, they liked to stay up and discuss the boys they had crushes on or music and movies.

An eerie sense came over her that made the fine dark hairs on her arms stand on end. It didn't bring fear to her, but it didn't sit right with her either. Something definitely didn't feel right, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. She switched on her light and slipped out of bed, reaching for her robe where she left it on a chair near the bed. She pulled it on, and walked over to the window.

She ran her hand across the windowsill to see if she could feel a breeze that might have explained the cold she felt that was growing in the room – something to explain the cold spot she was standing right in. She wandered around the room trying to determine if a vent or something was attributing to the cold climate. She tripped over a large free weight, which clunked noisily as it moved easily with her strength. She fought the temptation to swear and continued to investigate the room.

It was moments later that Ororo Munroe opened the bedroom door; a stern expression on her beautiful face.

Monet sighed, she'd of course known she wasn't meant to be sleeping in this room and she'd done a fine job of hiding it – even Alison or Tabitha, her room-mates hadn't tipped off the instructors – but it seemed now however, she'd been caught thanks to the noise the weight had made against the carpeted floor.

"Monet, what are you doing in here."

"I couldn't sleep," Monet sighed, "I'll admit it freely, Miss Munroe, I come here to sleep whenever Alison and Blair keep me up at night. I did not think it would be inconveniencing anyone. After all, Mr. LeBeau has been gone for months, and I haven't touched any of his personal effects. I only use the bed for a good nights sleep..."

Storm folded her arms.

"Something is wrong in here," Monet confessed suddenly, "I was awakened by something – I'm not sure what. Can't you feel it?"

"Other than the temperature being a little on the cold side in here, I sense nothing wrong," Ororo admitted. "But the cold is explainable, the heating in this room was switched off months ago to conserve power."

"I guess I must have been dreaming," Monet sighed.

Ororo nodded towards the hallway, "back to your room, Monet. You know this room is off-limits even if Remy has been gone for months."

"Fine," Monet pouted, she followed Ororo out into the hallway, "maybe Dr. McCoy will let me sleep in the hospital wing."

"The hospital wing has a patient," Ororo said quietly, her expression pensive. "Now go to bed."

Remy stood by the window watching as the two dark skinned women left his bedroom. Despair began to weigh on his mind. For a moment he'd almost felt a glimmer of hope – especially when Monet had sat up and said his name. In that moment he'd almost been convinced she'd seen him there.

_She was just dreaming, that's all. She couldn't see you, she couldn't hear you, and she couldn't sense you. _

He moved across the room, recognising all his familiar belongings even in the darkness. The free-weight Monet had tripped upon, the last CD he'd listened to sitting on the dresser, the CD player – now unplugged.

A deck of cards piled neatly on the dresser too – not as he'd left it so someone he realised had been coming in and tidying the room, dusting the dresser, someone had picked up his scattered cards and piled them neatly. Someone had arranged his colognes, put them in order by size nearer the back of the dresser, placed his comb neatly in front of them beside his electric razor.

It felt like home being there once again and yet, it felt sightly unfamiliar. Disorientating, but perhaps it was because of the detachment he felt from his physical self.

He wished he could stretch out on his bed, feel the cool cotton sheets beneath his warm nude body, and sleep comfortably for hours with his cheek against the memory foam pillow. His mind was tired, but it wouldn't sleep without his flesh to accompany it. Instead he could only feel the exhaustion settling over him as if he'd been sedated but not yet passed out.

Remy decided to leave his room, he couldn't stand being there any longer, standing around with nothing to do, nowhere to be. Although he needed answers and knew his place should have been down inj the hospital wing with Hank and Jean to find out all he could about the condition of his body, he still felt compelled to go to Rogue's room.

He moved the door into the hall and made his way to Rogue's room. Nothing had changed, everything remained the same. The lights were on in the bedroom and Rogue was stretched out on the bed lying on her stomach flicking through a fashion magazine. She had a purple furry robe on, her long tan legs were bare and kicking back and forth absently, her long hair cascaded over her shoulders in soft brown and white curls.

Remy moved closer to look at her, he reached out with a ghostly arm to touch her, he could see his own bare flesh but it faded in and out as if he were disappearing. She shivered almost as if she felt his touch, and he might have gasped if he had breath.

She sat up and walked over to the radiator which was situated on the wall just behind the dresser. She placed her hand above it as if to check for the heat radiating from it, she frowned.

A knock at the door disturbed her, "come in," she said distractedly as she turned the dial on the side of the radiator to put the heat up a little more.

Bobby Drake entered the room, he was wearing a pair of sweat pants and an old t-shirt with a Nickleback logo on the chest. "Hi," he said.

She moved her hair back from her shoulders, "hey, do you think it feels cold here tonight?"

"Not really, I don't feel the cold like the rest of you," he reminded, "the heat, sure, but not the cold."

Remy clenched his ghostly fists at Bobby's presence. _He needs to stay the fuck away from her already,_ he thought angrily.

She moved over to the window to check if it was properly secure.

"Are you alright?" Bobby asked, he looked worried.

"Course I am," she answered, "why do you ask?"

Bobby sat on the edge of her bed, he looked her right in the eyes, "maybe because you're getting more and more distant every day..."

Rogue rolled her eyes at him, "you're imagining things."

"You know how I feel about you, Rogue. I just don't think you really feel the same about me...you flinch every time I come near you...every time I touch you you cringe, you move back like you don't trust me."

"I don't trust myself, and I don't trust my powers," Rogue reminded, "there's a difference."

"Do you love me?" Bobby asked.

"I..."

He stood up, "that's what I thought," he said dejectedly and began to head for the door.

"Wait," she said softly, and he stopped but didn't turn.

"I...I..." she tried to get the words out but they wouldn't come. Remy swung angrily at her dresser, if she said it to Bobby Drake he didn't want to ever go back to being in his body, if she said it he hoped his body would die and his mind right along with it.

All her perfume bottles on the dresser toppled, they clattered off the wood, two dropped onto the carpeted floor with a soft thud.

Rogue gasped and turned to look at the dresser. "What the..."

Remy felt a sudden rush of triumph flow through his ghostly form._ I can move stuff!_


	2. A Haunting

Chapter 2 – A Haunting

Rogue quickly picked up her perfume bottles from the floor, "what the hell..." she muttered.

"Maybe a tremor...sometimes the mansion shakes when the blackbird takes off."

"We'd have heard it take off," Rogue reminded, "and if there were any missions setting off tonight we'd have been informed." She picked up each bottle and set it where it had been.

"Maybe just a tremor," Bobby shrugged, "someone slamming a door downstairs, anything could have made that happen."

Remy frowned. _I'll show you a tremor, _he thought wryly. He pushed mirror on the wall, part of his hand going partially through the silver frame, and it began to swing back and forth, Rogue's reflection sliding in and out of sight.

"Bobby..." Rogue whispered, her lip trembled.

"I didn't do it," Bobby promised, he reached for her hand to hold it.

Remy lost his temper, they didn't seem to understand that this was not the time for them to be finding comfort in each other while he played his tricks. He swung his ghostly fist at the glass of the mirror and it shattered in the middle, streaks shot across the mirror like a sunburst.

"Maybe Jean's telekinesis is going all weird again – I've seen this happen before when she's been under a lot of stress," Bobby suggested. "Let's go see where she is."

Remy despaired, he floated back to his bedroom, angry with the couple. Bobby was taking it all too much in his stride and Rogue didn't seem to sense him at all and if she did she didn't acknowledge it. In anger, he swiped at the deck of neatly stacked playing cards on the dresser, which sent them flicking across the room onto the bed, to the floor, onto the chair.

_How could she take up with that asshole, I don't get it...they aren't a match, she can't really love him. She has trouble saying it, right? That means she can't love him._

He decided to stop his useless complaining to himself, it wasn't achieving anything. Instead, he made his way through the mansion, knocking over items as best he could as he passed, hitting paintings and causing them to hang unevenly on the wall, hitting vases and watching them fall and crack on the floors.

As he went downstairs he heard the several voices of students upstairs who had heard the commotion and found the mess out in the hall. If Rogue and Bobby weren't worried enough, the rest of the mansion would start to become worried.

He went to the kitchen, and opened every cupboard door, he yanked things out of the fridge as best he could, having to struggle to concentrate to move things, it making him feel more and more exhausted each time he did so.

He opened the fridge, and knocked out glass bottles of cola which shattered upon the pristine tiles and sent rivers of brown cola trailing across the floor and under the table, it reminded him of rivers of orange when he was nineteen years old, standing in the kitchen mortally wounded as Rogue wiped up the floor with a paper towel.

If he'd had a heart on him at that moment he was sure it was already breaking.

He hit the button on the radio, which sent it blasting to life, in two more seconds Kitty Pride entered the kitchen in a large white terricloth robe, her hair damp from a shower, her stomach huge and protruding as if she'd swallowed an inflatable beach ball.

Kitty's large sapphire blue eyes grew larger and wider to see the mess. She put a hand on her large belly as if to soothe her unborn baby before it too could react. "Professsssssssoooorrrrrrrr!" she cried loudly.

Moments later, Professor Xavier wheeled into the double wide doorway, his mouth dropping at the sight of the mess. "What has happened?" he asked.

Kitty stepped over puddles of cola to switch the loud radio off, "I don't know...I heard the music blasting from the kitchen, I thought it was one of the kids..." she grabbed a handful of paper towels from the roll on the counter and knelt down to start mopping it up.

"Kitty, leave it," the professor warned, "you shouldn't be over-exerting yourself so close to your due date...I'll have someone else deal with this..."

Scott Summers arrived, looking grim; Remy could only imagine the Professor had summoned him. "I'm here," he said, he looked tired, although he was still in his uniform, which left Remy wondering if the man had been in the danger room for a late night session when this had occurred. "What's going on?"

"Someone has apparently been up to some mischief in here and left a mess," Professor Xavier answered.

"Kitty, you shouldn't be trying to clear this up in your condition..." Scott warned.

"I'm pregnant, not terminal," Kitty rolled her eyes, she tossed a soggy paper towel into the trash. "It's cold in here," she shivered.

"I feel it too," the professor sighed, "the radiators in this mansion are old and need replacing."

Kitty pulled her robe tighter around herself, "how is Remy?" she asked quietly.

"He's stable, his condition is not critical although there will be some scarring," the Professor answered grimly.

"But he hasn't gained consciousness yet?" Kitty asked.

"No. To be honest it has been very hard to locate brain activity," the professor's voice was thick, "but try not to concern yourself. You are tired, I sense the exhaustion in you. Please go to bed and try to get some rest, Kitty."

Kitty sighed, she walked over sullently, "y'know, you're making me feel like a child," she folded her arms stubbornly.

"I know," Professor Xavier smiled softly, "but I just want to be sure of your well-being, and the baby," he placed a hand tenderly on her swollen stomach in the way of a proud grandparent almost.

Remy watched the scene before him. _No brain activity because I'm here, my mind is alive but it's been ripped from my body..._

"Professor!" came a relieved voice from the hall, and they all turned to see Rogue arriving, Bobby closely tailing behind her. "Somethin' strange is goin' on. Things are movin' on their own..." Rogue said, a little flustered, "my mirror smashed on it's own...my perfume bottles knocked themselves over..."

Kitty blinked, "and the kitchen ended up in a mess and yet I didn't hear anyone running away from it when I heard that radio coming on..."

Rogue gaped at the mess in the kitchen, "what the hell...?" she then paused, she turned to an empty corner in the kitchen – that is, it was empty unless it could be counted that Remy's ghost was standing unseen and unfelt by the entire mansion.

"What is it?" Bobby asked, squeezing Rogue's shoulder.

"I...I'm not sure, it might be nothing," Rogue admitted, "I just...I thought I felt something."

Remy moved towards her, he reached towards her, wishing his hands would not simply pass through her flesh, but graze her soft tan cheeks, or shift her soft brown and white curls.

The professor watched Rogue's movement for several moments, then he nodded. "I feel it too," he admitted, "the faintest presence, it feels as if it's barely here...miles away."

"No...this is here, right now...in here," Rogue hugged herself.

"You've been watching too many horror movies," Bobby smirked, "are you saying you think there's a ghost?"

"It's possible...I mean...after all the things we've seen in our lives," Kitty shrugged.

"This place must be steeped in history...but we've never really had ghost problems before," Scott confessed.

Remy would have sighed if he'd had breath to exhale in frustration. Annoyed, he shoved the toaster so that it flipped over on it's side upon the counter which it sat. They all jumped, the Professor blinked.

"Yes, I believe we have a spirit," the Professor smiled just a little, "and an angry one at that..."

_I'm here, Professor...you are the world's most powerful telepath, how can you not hear me? Mon dieu, _Remy despaired.

Rogue shivered, "I feel like there's something beside me...this...cold spot, right here..." she took her glove off and ran her bare hand across the air, her fingers cutting through Remy's chest.

Remy tried to focus all his might so that she would feel something, anything other than a chill in the atmosphere. Focusing a lot of the energy he had, as it felt like it was quickly beginning to drain, he moved forward, to let lips intangible kiss hers.

"Remy..." Rogue whispered, she jumped back a little, then placed her fingers upon her lips.

A surge of relief and excitement built up within Remy, _yes, my cherie, I'm here. _

"Don't be stupid...Gambit isn't anywhere near here," Bobby rolled his eyes.

Kitty chewed her lip, "Uh...that's not exactly true..."

Rogue spun around to look at Kitty, "what...what are you talking about..."

"He's in intensive care in the hospital wing, Hank and Jean are caring for him."

"What? Why didn't you tell me...?" Rogue demanded.

"Why are you getting so upset?" Bobby asked, "I mean, geez, you asked the guy not to come back here after what he kept from you..."

Remy felt a pang of guilt.

"I know that," Rogue drew her breath, "but...I don't know..."

"We didn't feel it necessary to upset you, Rogue," the Professor confessed softly.

"Every time he comes back it always does," Rogue sighed.

"You never even wanted him back," Bobby reminded, "you told him not to even bother coming back, remember? So just try to forget him..."

_Asschunk,_ Remy thought at Bobby bitterly.

The professor gave a sudden chuckle, but when everyone looked at him, he regained his composure quickly. "I suggest for the moment you all try to remain calm and that some of you--" he glanced towards Kitty, "--try to get some sleep."

"I'll help clean this mess up," Rogue said, taking charge by starting to pick things up from the floor. Scott began to help, and Bobby too joined in. Remy could see Rogue's distraction, but tried not to let him give too much hope.

_Bobby is right, she never wanted me back here, I should have just stayed away, let my body die the way it probably should have,_ he thought sadly.


	3. Faintest of Whispers

**Chapter 3 – Faintest of Whispers**

The professor turned in his chair and began for the foyer, Remy took off after him, following down to a back hallway where the Professor's office was located on the ground floor.

_Professor, can you hear me?_

Professor Xavier stopped at his desk, he paused, as if he concentrated, "your voice is just the faintest of whisper amongst a cluster of jumbled thoughts in this mansion," he said softly, "but I can hear you if I focus my power enough."

Remy moved closer, he knelt by the Professor's wheelchair. _Am I going to die?_

The professor paused, his expression clouded with concern, "I don't believe your body is in any danger. Your wounds are being tended by Hank and Jean, your condition is stable and while your injuries could have killed you, the treatment we can provide here will most definitely prevent it," he replied.

Remy would have frowned if he had physical eyebrows, had he imagined it or had the Professor just completely avoided answering the question. _That isn't what I asked._

"I..." Professor Xavier gave a long pause, "I am unsure how long your body will survive with your psyche disconnected from it...or how long your mind can survive without being connected to it..."

_I am not a ghost? _Remy asked. _Not technically?_

"No. In fact, all the proof of your presence is a faint voice it appears I can hear if I concentrate and listen hard enough..."

_So you cannot see me either,_ Remy despaired.

"You have a visual presence?" the Professor asked curiously.

_I can see my own body, although I see no reflections in mirrors. I am...like in an old black and white movie. Grainy...and flickering..._

_"_Interesting," the Professor scratched his chin.

Remy wasn't sure if interesting was the word for it. Frightening perhaps, never knowing if he would ever be able to feel anything again, never knowing if he would feel the binds of human flesh.

"It's almost...as if you are somewhere between life and death – I suspect the sudden shock of your injury could have pushed your consciousness out – some latent mutant ability, or an outer-body experience. It's not unheard of, even in humans."

Remy's ghostlike voice came out as a groan.

"How did this happen?"

_I was attacked unexpectedly, a laser hit me and then...and then it felt as if I was torn from myself... was left standing looking down at myself..._

The Professor seemed pensive as Remy explained.

_It was different when Psylocke died. __I saw her going into this beautiful light, she was glowing and beautiful and disappeared into that light...and I...was given no light to go into...I was left behind._

_"_Then it would appear to not be your time to go," The professor smiled.

_Why can I move things...touch things...if I have no body?_

Xavier frowned, "it might be some underlying telekinetic ability, I'm not altogether sure..."

_So how do I fix this?_

"I have no answer for you at this moment in time, Remy," Professor Xavier sighed, "It may simply be a case of your body needing to heal before your mind will return to it...it may be that your mind needs to be ready before you can rejoin with your body...I will try to find out more. In the meantime, please no more destroying property and leaving large messes..."

"I can't believe you're worried about his worthless ass again," Bobby uttered to Rogue as ran the mop over the tiles which were now stained with cola.

Rogue was quiet, pensive. She was putting items back into the correct cupboards, almost every item had been dragged out, cans of food, boxes of cookies, even plastic tableware.

Bobby stopped, leaning on the mop. It was just the two of them in the kitchen now, Scott had left them to clean up the very last of the mess. Bobby was glad of Scott's absence for it gave him a chance to speak to Rogue.

"I mean...how could you ever consider letting him into your life again?"

Rogue frowned, "I didn't say I was letting him into my life," she commented, her voice thick, dry.

"Sure seems like you are," Bobby grumbled.

She couldn't find an response because it felt like there could never be a right one when it came to Bobby. She couldn't find a response because the only thing she was really thinking of was going down to the hospital wing to be with Remy, to see him, to see his face again.

"You said you never wanted to see him ever again," Bobby stated, the second time he had pointed this out, "when you came back in tears from Vegas six months ago telling me he hurt you and how you could never let him into your life again."

She pulled herself up sitting on the counter, she sighed, "I remember."

"You still won't even tell me what he did...and to be honest, I don't even know if I want to know if it could hurt you so bad."

Rogue clasped her hands together and pressed them between her knees before she could start nervously wringing them and fidgeting.

"All I know is that I will never hurt you as bad as he did. I'll never make you cry like he has," Bobby moved over to her. "Rogue, I love you...you know that, right?"

"Of course I know it," she looked down to the floor.

"But do you feel it?" he asked, he reached over to touch her cheek but she flinched away.

"Don't. You know what my powers could do to you...do you have a death wish?"

Bobby tried to not be dejected by her flinch, "c'mon, baby, we can't stay three feet apart every time we're together – that's not a relationship..."

Rogue looked away from him, she felt his hands upon her hips and she pushed him away, "Look, stop it, okay? I told you from the start I could never have a physical relationship with you and you said you were fine with that. Stop trying to push me."

He paused for the longest time, then said "Your relationship with Gambit was physical."

"Barely," she hopped off the counter, "and he never made the first moves. He respected me enough to not..."

"So you always made the first moves, huh?" Bobby muttered, "I find _that_ hard to believe."

"Why? 'Cause he has a sexual reputation?" she asked, quite indignant.

"Uh...yeah?" Bobby made a face, "I bet he could keep a few sexual health clinics busy for a while with the amount of itches and infections he's had."

"Uhm, as far as I know, Remy has never had any kind of disease," Rogue walked to the foyer from the kitchen and Bobby followed.

"Yeah, as far as _you_ know," Bobby grunted.

Rogue shook her head at him as she began to leave the room, "you know, you don't know him, you never even tried to get to know him. You have a reputation too, Bobby. You're a hothead, you're possessive, and clingy and--"

"And?" he demanded, he grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving the room, "and what?"

"Just forget it," she broke free of his grip and left him standing in the kitchen, alone and angry and unaware of Remy LeBeau's presence unseen.


	4. Touched

**Chapter 4 - Touched**

Rogue stopped outside the doors leading into the Hospital wing, her nerves raw both from the argument – if it could be called that – with Bobby, and the distress of being so close to Remy LeBeau once again. She stood there, hovering, wondering how to feel – how it would feel again when she saw him there, lying in the bed just as he had been before – just like the clone, just like so many years ago when he'd been wounded with a stab wound before he'd even been one of the X-Men.

She shivered, a cold breeze of air swept against her cheek and she wondered if it was just due to the draughty cold corridors of the sub-basement, or if maybe Remy LeBeau really was now some kind of spirit, and was here with her. That thought scared her and thrilled her at the same time. Passion burned deep within her, passion she'd tried to forget for over five months now. Passion that she just couldn't feel for anyone else but Remy LeBeau.

She leaned back against the wall, wishing she knew what to do. Remy had kept so much from her she wasn't sure if she could ever really trust the man again, and to let him back into her life to go through the same ordeals again and again was leaving her in more and more a state of depression.

_I fought long and hard to get through what I did,_ Rogue thought, she slid down the wall and sat upon the cold tiled floor, she hugged her knees. _Therapists, anti-depressants, help groups...I was in such a good place before he got caught in Illinois. If they have never brought him back..._

A soft tickle brushed her jaw, she raised her head and looked around, "Remy?" she asked in a soft whisper. Her reply was with another touch, a sliding tingling moving across her right cheek, it was tender, like the touch of a feather. "Are you here..."

Her hair shifted from her shoulder, as if it had been touched, or moved by unseen fingers, tingles brushed her bare neck, she arched her neck away from the touch, "oooh, you are, aren't you..."

There were long pauses between the touches, sometimes they felt almost human, and at others barely a caress of the wind. How he had the power to do so was unfathomable. She sighed softly, tilting her head back as what felt like soft lips brushed that tender area that tickled just under her jaw.

Sometimes the touches were so light she could barely feel anything at all, but that touch, that being able to feel something more, left her yearning for it, left her unable to pull away no matter how wrong it seemed. She tried to reach for him but her fingers passed through nothing but cold air. She despaired, it felt unfair he could do as he wished and she couldn't touch him, couldn't see him.

"I need to see you, Remy..." she breathed softly, "it can't be like this," she left out a tiny moan as ghostly lips tugged on her right ear.

The touches stopped as if he understood he had to let her go and step through the doors. She pulled herself up, her breath uneven now, she had to recompose herself before she pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

Remy LeBeau was hooked up to monitors, his heartbeat showing as slightly irregular on one, his brain activity showing nothing on the other. Rogue hugged herself as she moved over. Jean Grey was checking the laser wound for infection.

"How is he?"

"He's stable," Jean answered, "but it might not be a good idea for you to be in here right now," she said softly, "after everything--"

"I know, I know," Rogue sighed, "But if it were you...would you be able to stay away from Scott?" she asked pointedly.

Jean was taken aback by the question, she stepped away from the bed, "fine," she agreed, "I'll give you a little time alone with him..."

Rogue smiled a little, "thanks, Jean."

Jean left, the doors closing quietly behind her.

Rogue stepped up to the bed and took a seat on it, by Remy's hip, taking a hold of his arm in her gloved hands and laying it across her lap, she held onto his hand tenderly, and watched him. It looked as if he were just peacefully sleeping. She sighed softly and stroked back his hair from his forehead.

The cold presence shifted behind her back, stirring her hair.

"I keep praying I'll never have to see you again," Rogue admitted quietly, "and now it seems so unfair that I can see you but...can't..."

She stroked Remy's cheek, his presence touched hers, and she closed her eyes.

"I don't know if things can ever be the same...if...if you can get out of this...this thing you're in..." she sighed. "So much has happened...I don't think I can trust you again Remy...I don't think I can love you again..."

There was a strange pulling from somewhere in his stomach that he didn't quite understand – especially in the intangible state he was in. If he'd had his heart beating within his presence he was sure it would be breaking. As he reached out to touch her, his fingers merely passed through her.

The soft almost steady beeping of his slightly irregular heartbeat on the EKG machine was slowing. He wasn't a doctor, and he couldn't read the spiky and bumpy lines on the display, but something told him the longer and longer pauses between each spike was not a good thing.

Alarms began to sound, loud, and shrill.

Rogue jumped up from the bed as Jean and Hank both ran in, Jean began to read the print out from the Machine, Hank, grabbed a stethoscope and began listening for Remy's heartbeat.

"His heart is slowing down..."

"Rogue, you need to leave the room..." Jean said.

"What's happening to him?!" Rogue demanded, she was still holding onto his hand.

Remy watched the whole scene, helpless, nothing he tried to touch would move, nor feel it. He looked to his hands, which to his eyes were a colourless grainy image like an old movie. His hands were flickering, fading, so that he could see through them.

_Am I dying?_ He wondered.

"Rogue! Out! Now!" Hank yelled.

"No!" Rogue cried, tears were beginning to brim in her green eyes.

"You're in the way!"

"I'm not leaving him!"

Jean frowned and raised a hand towards Rogue, and Rogue raised up into the air, and was thrown back as the hospital wing doors flew open. She was telekinetically tossed out into the hallway and the doors swung closed behind her. He saw the doors judder and heard thudding of her fists as she tried to hit her way back inside but the doors – telekinetically sealed, Remy could only guess – wouldn't budge for her.

Remy watched the scene in shock, he watched them work on his body while his mind stayed on the sidelines helpless, the chaos around him far too much to keep up with.

_I'm dying,_ he thought, he heard them discussing quickly how they could keep him alive but he couldn't watch anymore.

_If I'm going to die...there's only one person in the world I want to be with when I do,_ he thought as he floated towards the doors and into the hallway, Rogue was sitting on the floor in the hall. There were tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Remy..." she whispered.

"Rogue, you must not lose hope," came the voice of the Professor as he came down the hall, his chair made a soft squeaking which left Remy absurdly thinking the man really needed to oil the wheels although there were definitely more important things to be worrying about at the moment.

"Professor...I can't go through this again...I can't...I can't go through these deaths. I've been through this, mourned him before..."

"They are doing all they can for him. His condition was stable, they're trying to understand what has sent his heartbeat slowing dangerously down," the Professor came as close as he could to her and he touched her hair tenderly, the only contact between them that wouldn't harm him.

"I felt him, Professor...not just in the kitchen...I felt him with me..."

_I am here with you, Chere, _Remy moved beside her, _I'll always be with you. If I remain a ghost for the rest of my life...I'll be here with you..._

The professor paused, "I can hear him...but very barely now..." he gave a soft sigh, "he...wants you to know he is here with you, and that he always will be."

"He knows he's dying..." Rogue let out a shuddering breath."Professor, you can't let him die...he's too young, he has his whole life ahead of him...so much to do still...he can't die."

Remy tried to touch her face but his fingers sailed through her as if she were the one who didn't exist. _If I can't be with you anymore, chere, I got no life. You are my life. Maybe this was meant to be..._

Professor Xavier's face became very grim, "he...thinks this was maybe fate..."

Rogue sobbed, she moved over to rest her cheek against the Professor's knee. He stroked her hair tenderly, in the way a father might.

Remy felt himself fading more, _Professor, I think I'm going now...I'm disappearing...there ain't much of me left to see...not that you can..._

"Remy, hold on as much as you can..." Professor Xavier said softly, "they're doing all they can to keep you alive."

_Not sure how I can hold on...I'm weak...feelin weaker..._

"Remy!" Rogue cried out in a heartwrenching sob.

Professor Xavier paused, "his breathing has stopped..."


	5. Acceptance

**Chapter 5 - Acceptance**

Rogue's face became white to hear that Remy LeBeau's breathing had stopped. "No...no...he can't just...you can't let him die...he can be resuscitated, right? He can be kept alive on artificial respirators...his heart can be made to keep beating – I know it can. All this technology we have in this place...all these machines, high-tech equipment, there has to be something that can keep him alive..." she pleaded.

_My mind is dying, Professor, not just my body...you need to make her understand...there's nothing they can do in there...I know it in my heart...what I got left of it._

_"_Rogue," The Professor swallowed, "his body is brain-dead, the ghost-like state he is in is quickly fading. If this ghost-state...this part of his mind dies, there may be nothing we can do for him – he could live for the rest of his life with no consciousness, no mind...a shell with nothing attached to it..."

_I know I must accept this, Professor. There isn't anything left I can do to stop. Be honest with her and tell her I must go._

"He...is accepting what is coming...he wants you to know he must let it happen."

"No..." Rogue sobbed, tears streaming down her face, "he can't just _accept _it. Damn it, Remy, you're a fighter, you always _have _been, you need to fight now!"

Remy wondered if there was anything in him that could fight it, if there was anything left to fight for. There was barely enough strength left in him to speak to the Professor. He doubted there was much time – time had to be spent wisely, and that meant telling her all he needed to tell her before he would be gone, and never have that chance again.

_Please tell her I'm sorry for causing her so much pain in all this time I've known her...and that I I love her...always have...and always will._

_"_He...apologises for all the pain he's ever caused you...and," Xavier swallowed, "he loves you, he always has loved you...and always will..."

"Don't go, Remy..." Rogue looked around the hallway, looking for the ghost of Remy she would never see, her dark green eyes glistened in the overhead lights, making them shine like dark jade. "Don't do this...fight it...I know you can..." she pleaded, her accent thick, her tears trickling down her cheeks like slim waterfalls.

He looked down to see his hands disappearing, he felt as if he were on some kind of drug, his head light and disorientated. He stared forward to see a beautiful light, just as he'd seen Betsy floating into only hours ago. _Goodbye, chere..._

The Professor placed his hand on Rogue's hair, "he's going now...you must say farewell..."

"NO!" Rogue screamed hysterically, "you can't just give up on this, god, that's not what the Remy _I_ know would do. Fight this, please! For me! For us! I love you!"

There were dazzling lights all around him, and he was no longer in the mansion sub-basement. Instead, he was in the open air, in sky so blue, lights twirling around him like tiny stars and suns. He was naked but felt neither ashamed or exposed. He was flying through the sky with no cares, no worries, no pains, no stress, no sadness.

_Is this heaven? _He wondered, his body was being pulled towards puffy white clouds, they dispersed as he hit them, the lights around him danced aside him, following him, spinning and glittering, he realised it was those lights that were taking him where he was going – wherever that was.

A bright blue light shone ahead, and he stopped in mid-air – the tiny lights began to leave him, one by one, except one light, one larger, brighter one, which remained by his side.

The blue light began to shrink down, become a haze in which a beautiful woman appeared, her hair was long, and purple, and floated around her as if she were under water.

He felt a jolt of surprise, the woman was Elizabeth Braddock.

_"Betsy,"_he said, his voice echoed, even with no walls to bounce off of, he tilted his head to look at her. She was more perfect than she had been in life, her hair was shinier, her features more defined, her skin clearer. She was draped in several layers of lilac silk which fluttered around her legs and arms as she hovered in her blue light.

_"It's a surprise to see you here, too, in the light, Remy," _she said softly, her accent was lilting and her voice was soothing, not like he'd ever known it before. Any kind of grudge, any dislike she'd ever had towards him seemed to have completely ebbed away. She spoke to him almost like a mother would speak to a son.

_"I knew sooner or later, my time had to be up..." _Remy admitted.

"_That's for debate..." _Betsy admitted, she folded her arms and smiled, "_you see, your body is ready – but your mind isn't...something is holding you back."_

He paused to consider this, "_what?"_

"_The last words Rogue called out to you as you began to soar towards the light, Remy..."_

_"I'm confused," _he confessed.

"_You can't be here without complete acceptance, Remy. Your body would have remained alive even with your psyche detached to it – that is until you decided you wanted to die."_

He frowned, _"I never decided to die."_

_"When she told you things could never be the same – that she didn't think she could love you again, you gave up on life, and your body gave up at your psyche's demand."_

Remy glanced at the floating ball of light, it was so beautiful, he wondered what it was.

"_But Rogue's last words to you are going to pull you back, Remy..."_

_"Then why am I here?" _he asked.

"_An impatient little thing wanted you to know that when you are ready...you'll be welcomed with open arms up here...being so close to the light, she didn't want to miss her opportunity."_

Remy raised an eyebrow, "_I don't understand..."_

The light spun around him excitedly, darting back and forth, he felt a warmth radiating from it, somehow, he felt love too. An inexplicable sense of love overwhelmed him.

"_Your daughter, Remy."_

He gasped, and reached out for the darting light, it touched his hand, leaving his fingers tingling and tickling like the feeling of static electricity. "_Gabrielle..." _he whispered.

"_Her soul is too pure for her to be able to speak to you...but I'm sure you can feel her..."_

Remy felt tears trickle down his cheeks, _"Oh god, I never thought...never dreamed I would...I would feel her..."_

Betsy smiled, "_she's been watching you for some time..."_

_"You can understand her?" _Remy asked.

_"My mutant abilities followed me to the afterlife...only with much more control and capabilities...and yes, I can understand her."_

Remy touched the ball of light again, sighing, "_Oh, Gabrielle," _he murmured softly.

_"She wants you to stop punishing yourself over her death...and stop being so sad..." _Betsy said after a moment, "_she says you must go back, because you're needed – someone else in life needs you...not just Rogue."_

"_But...to be here..." _Remy gestured all around him, "_this is my home...I feel it."_

_"You have another home – and you must return to it..._"Betsy smiled, "_You can always return – when the time is right."_

_"But..."_

He didn't get the chance to finish what he was saying, because the glowing light – the ethereal ball of light that was his daughter's pure soul – flew into him and hit him square in the chest with a powerful force that left him gasping for breath in pain.

And then he realised he was no longer in the light.

He sat up with a cry of pain burning in his chest and realised he was in the sterile white hospital wing with Jean Grey and Hank McCoy looking at him in astonishment.


	6. Back to Life

**Chapter 6 – Back to Life**

He was gasping for breath, his heart thudding like he'd been more afraid than he ever had in his life. A strong burning sensation in the left side of his chest made him cry out in pain and tears of agony stung his eyes, it felt like he was on fire.

"Lie down, calm yourself..." he heard Jean say softly.

He cried in agony and writhed, this laser wound was nothing like he'd ever felt.

"We thought we'd lost you for a time there," Hank said, patting Remy's shoulder and then pushing him back gently so he was lying back. He struggled, his back arching. "Jean, get him something for the pain..."

Jean rushed to a locked cupboard and fumbled for keys – the powerful medications and drugs for pain were always kept in a locked cupboard – which was also alarmed inside. With teenagers in the building, couldn't be too careful, Jean felt.

"It burns!" he cried, tears streaming down the sides of his face into his hair.

"Laser wounds are very rarely ever painless," Hank admitted. "And this...well...It's a nasty one – fourth degree burns I'm afraid," Hank continued in a gentle calm voice. "There was some infection – we've managed to rid you of that and you're past crisis mode. You're a very lucky man, Remy LeBeau..."

Jean arrived with a vial of clear liquid and a packeted hypodermic, she handed the both to Hank who expertly went about tearing the packet open and drawing the liquid in to the needle.

"You'll feel sleepy...incredibly sleepy," Hank said soothingly, "it's best, for the moment...that you sleep through some of this pain," he wiped Remy's arm with an antiseptic wipe then gently slid the needle into a vein.

Remy sucked in a breath, his body felt hypersensitive, and the needle was sharp, hard and cold against his flesh, against his vein. He tried to breathe out the pain but it wasn't working.

"The pain won't completely subside...but it will make it tolerable," Hank explained.

Remy pulled himself up again, tearing the intravenous drip tube from his left hand, and yanking off the pads from his chest that had been hooked up to the EKG.

"Uhm...where do you think you're going," Hank tried to stop him.

He gripped onto the bed, a fast dizzy feeling came to his head from whatever Hank had injected into him. "Need to...see her," Remy said woozily, he somehow clumsily managed to pull away from Hank's attempts to stop him getting away from the bed and he stumbled numbly towards the doors, nearly falling through them.

Rogue and the Professor were still in the hall and Rogue glanced up in shock to see Remy there, tears stained her face, her lips were trembling. She quickly got to her feet to hurry towards him.

"I..." he managed to say, but this was as much as he could manage, his legs gave out, his body grew heavy and he dropped like a ton of bricks, Rogue's arms barely just catching him.

"Remy..."

The pain in his chest was throbbing in strong pulses, but his mind was barely awake enough to care about it anymore. He fought to keep his eyes open to look at her.

"He needs to be put back to his bed," said Jean, who had followed him out, "He's heavily sedated – he's in a great deal of pain."

"Let me," Rogue said gently, she sniffed, blinking away tears. She pulled Remy's bare arm around her shoulders, being careful to make sure their flesh didn't touch. He was barely awake enough to help walk, but she didn't want to completely lift him, she was almost scared she might break him.

They got him back to the bed in the hospital wing and helped him settle back there.

"He's stable now? For good?"

"Yes," Jean said, "he's passed the crisis point – and his mind is back where it should be," she added, she checked Remy's pulse, "good, strong pulse..." she took a small flashlight and pried one of Remy's eyes widely open to shine the light in, "his pupils are abnormally dilated more than that drug usually causes."

Remy's eyes flickered open weakly to look at Rogue, he reached for her, his arm barely strong enough to get up off the bed, "chere," he whispered.

She took his hand, she squeezed it gently, "don't try to talk right now," she whispered softly to him, with her other hand she stroked his hair away from his face tenderly, "we'll talk...later...when you're not sleepy...when you feel better..."

"S'it a'gn," he pleaded of her.

"Hmm?" she asked softly, leaning closer to hear him, she looked into his eyes, ruby on onyx; his pupils were abnormally huge and the red in his irises was barely more than a thin dark red circle. It made his eyes seem strange and barely recognisable, despite the familiarity Rogue felt for them. She could almost see her reflection in the shine of those huge pupils.

"Say...say it again," he focused hard to say each word, exhaustion was dragging him down.

"Say what?" she asked confusedly, she sniffled, the tears were still trickling down her cheeks.

"That y'love me," he sighed softly, his eyes closed of their own volition, he could no longer fight it. Sleep was taking him over.

"I love you," she said softly, she kissed the fingers of her gloves and pressed them to his lips. She was unsure if he heard this before he slipped into the deep sedated sleep. She turned to leave the room, wiping at her tears when she saw Bobby Drake standing at the door of the hospital wing.

THE END

((Okay so I know it sucked, forgive me))


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